After a bye week, Cardinals look to continue momentum

Sam Draut

2 years ago

By Annie Moore–

A 20-13 road win over NC State gave Louisville its first ACC win of the 2015 season and added confidence to this young squad. After three disappointing weeks, Louisville picked up back-to-back wins and built some momentum in Raleigh.

Lamar Jackson continued his record-breaking freshman season. Jackson finished the game with 121 rushing yards and set a single-season school record for rushing yards for a QB. He also had 10 completions in 27 attempts for 103 yards.

The freshman was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row following his stellar performance against NC State.

The other star of the match-up was Louisville’s defense. The Cardinals held NC State to 45 rushing yards on the day and just five third-down conversions. Louisville’s secondary picked off Wolfpack quarterback Jacoby Brissett three times.

“We’re a good defensive team, and I think you have to play together,” said Head Coach Bobby Petrino. “It’s hard on the defense when you’re not able to score points and get ahead, and (the opponent) can be patient and keep running the ball. The ability to get a lead allows us to play better defense. I think we’re a really good defensive team.”

Once again, freshmen played a big role all over the field in this win. Freshman receiver Devante Peete led the receiving core with 23 yards and one touchdown.

Three starters on the offensive line were freshmen. This win came at an integral point in the season for the Cardinals, as they entered a bye week before this weekend’s match-up against twelfth-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee.

“(This win) really helps us going into the bye week,” Petrino said. “Because we’ll have a good attitude and know we need to work hard. We’ve got a great game coming up, and we’ve got a little extra time to prepare for it. We’ve just got to continue to work hard on the practice field.”

Louisville led the Wolfpack the entire game and is now building momentum on both sides of the ball headed into the Florida State game. After a rough start to the season, the Cardinals will look to extend this winning streak to three games in the game against the Seminoles on Oct. 17 at 12 p.m.